The Life of Benvenuto Cellini, Written by Himself [Autobiography]

viii, [2], 301, [1] pp. Translated and edited by John Addington Symonds, with an introduction by Thomas Craven and illustrations by Fritz Kredel. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: "Benvenuto Cellini (November 3, 1500 – February 13, 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, painter, sculptor, soldier and musician of the Renaissance, who also wrote a famous autobiography. Cellini's autobiographical memoirs, which he began writing in Florence in 1558, give a detailed account of his singular career, as well as his loves, hatreds, passions, and delights, written in an energetic, direct, and racy style. They show a great self-regard and self-assertion, sometimes running into extravagances which are impossible to credit. He even writes in a complacent way of how he contemplated his murders before carrying them out. Parts of his tale recount some extraordinary events and phenomena; such as his stories of conjuring up a legion of devils in the Colosseum, after one of his not innumerous mistresses had been spirited away from him by her mother; of the marvelous halo of light which he found surrounding his head at dawn and twilight after his Roman imprisonment, and his supernatural visions and angelic protection during that adversity; and of his being poisoned on two separate occasions. Here, the veracity of his account may be questioned, but it is not possible to know with certainty the final truth of these matters. The autobiography has been translated into English by Thomas Roscoe, by John Addington Symonds, and by A. Macdonald. It has been considered and published as a classic, and commonly regarded as one of the most colourful autobiographies (certainly the most important autobiography from the Renaissance). Cellini also wrote treatises on the goldsmith's art, on sculpture, and on design. The life of Cellini also inspired the French historical novelist Alexandre Dumas, père. His Ascanio is based on Cellini's years in France, centered on Asciano, an apprentice of Cellini. Dumas' trademark plot twists and intrigues feature in the novel, in this case involving Cellini, the duchesse d'Etampes, and other members of the court. Cellini is portrayed as a passionate and troubled man, plagued by the inconsistencies of life under the 'patronage' of a false and somewhat cynical court. Cellini was also the subject of an eponymous opera by Hector Berlioz and a Broadway musical, The Firebrand of Florence, by Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill, which featured Lotte Lenya (Mrs. Weill) as one of the sculptor's royal conquests. The show only ran for a month on Broadway, although some of its songs are periodically revived. It marked the last major collaboration between Weill and Gershwin, who are best known for Lady in the Dark (1941). Cellini's autobiography is one of the books Tom Sawyer mentions as inspiration while freeing Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In 'Rappaccini's Daughter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne, an antidote to poison is presented in a vase 'wrought by the hands of Benvenuto Cellini.' Herman Melville compares Ahab, at the captain's first appearance, to a sculpture of Cellini. From Moby-Dick chap. 28; 'His whole high, broad form, seemed made of solid bronze, and shaped in an unalterable mould, like Cellini's cast Perseus.'"